A Retelling of Death
by BritRW
Summary: A quick one-shot of a Commander discussing her death and the deaths of her friends. [post ME2] (Rated T for language)


**BIOWARE OWNS CHARACTERS, MAIN STORY, AND BLAH BLAH BLAH...**

**A/N:** This is my first completed story, even though it's a one-shot. I am currently working on a saga for Commander Shepard, not this Shepard specifically. It'll be awhile for that to be posted so I may continue to write one-shots. Anyway, enjoy.

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The room swirled with smoke coming from just one cigar that rested on the lips of a woman who was kicked back in a chair, resting her feet on the desk in front of her.

"Ma'am, you're going to have to answer the question." An older gentlemen said, sitting neatly at the desk.

"I've said all that needs to be said." She spoke through the cigar which had now made its home on the right corner of her lips. She lifted her hands and placed them behind her head, her face as cold as stone.

"If you just tell us we can get through this faster." He leaned forward and then added, "Tell us about your death."

The woman removed the cigar and put it out on the table, then placed it behind her right ear. The man searched her face for any expression but all he saw was the red light of synthetics that broke through the scars on her cold gaze.

"My death?" She whispered loud enough for him to hear. "You want to know about how I died? What it felt like?" She then looked at the blank wall to her left and her eyes glossed over, the memory flooding her mind.

"Start from the beginning, please." The man said quietly and sat back in his chair. He was clearly proud to finally get her to talk but was unprepared for what he was about to hear.

"My first thought was _fuck_. I was relieved to get mostly everyone off board and safe. But now I was trapped, suspended in space. Who knew how long it would take for rescue to arrive, but I was glad to get everyone into the pods. The ship was destroyed but it could be rebuilt. Then it started." She slightly frowned and looked down at her shaking hands that had made their way onto her lap. Was she really trembling? She then took a deep breath and continued. "The warning light came on in my helmet, oxygen was depleting at a rapid rate. The fucking blast blew a hole in my oxygen tank. I knew I wouldn't survive but instinct took over. I tried to fix whatever I could grab but I knew it was over. I just thought of…her. The way she would look at me, the way she touched me…I remembered all of it. My final moments were of her. That she was safe." A faint smile crossed her lips.

"Have you seen her since?" The man asked, breaking her from her memories.

"Who?" She asked in her cold voice again, coming back to reality.

"The Doctor." He asked and placed a datapad on the table, it was a photo of herself and a beautiful Asari. The woman's feet slammed onto the ground and she snatched it up.

"Where did you get this?" She growled, but kept her focus on the photo.

"One of our moles on Illium took it just before you departed with her and your squad. But when you returned to Illium she was no longer with you. Can you explain this?" The man foolishly reached for the datapad but the woman grabbed him by the wrist and jerked it to the left, holding him in place. Some of the guards in the room stepped forward, taser pistols pointed.

"I have nothing to explain. What happened is between her, my squad, and myself." She growled again and released him. He rubbed at his now sore wrist and shooed the guards away. She then threw the datapad to him.

"Then continue with the story." He said and putting the datapad back in his suitcase. He sat back in his chair and the woman did the same but crossed her arms.

"There isn't much after that. I died. End of story. If you want details about how I came back from the dead I've already given you my full report. I'm done talking about this." She said, her face returning to stone once again.

"Tell me about the people you lost during your mission." He said, daring to bring up more bad memories but she didn't refuse him.

"I killed a lot of people, most were bad people. But I lost some good people, people I cared about." She leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees, running her fingers through her hair. "I tried to save them but…they were trapped. I tried, instead I watched them turn to mush in front of my eyes. The look of horror on my squads faces were…well it is something I won't forget. They were helpless, so were we. We couldn't help them."

"I understand you were able to save one person though." He quietly asked, not wanting to piss her off more.

"Yes, the ship's medical doctor. I've known her for years. Probably the only mother figure I've ever had in my entire life." The woman said quietly. "I owe her a lot, she's patched me up more times than I could remember. She's a good person and a hell of a drinker." The woman slightly smiled and chuckled to herself.

"Who else died on that day?"

"A few people." Was all that she said, glaring at him through narrow eyes. This was something she didn't want to remember.

"From what the report says it was nearly half your squad. The Turian, Krogan, Quarian, Drell, and two human males are all who died under your command that day." Once he finished the woman quickly stood up and flipped the table in one simple motion, finally grabbing him by the collar. The guards scrambled for their taser pistols.

"I said I _don't _want to talk about them you fucking pyjak. I lost a lot good people during that mission. They were my friends and some were my family." She yelled at him through bared teeth.

"Like the Quarian, I understand you had taken her under your wing two years ago. And the Turian…" She gripped harder at his collar and he whispered "You can't save everyone, Commander Shepard."

Her anger boiled over and she threw him into the wall to their left. He crashed into it with a heavy thud and fell to the ground, completely blacking out in the process.

"Fuck you." She growled as she was quickly taken down by the guards.


End file.
